More than a hundred of Canadian veterans have arrived in Sarajevo for annual “Battlefield Bike Ride 2018”, and will visit the places of significance to Canadian Armed Forces members who served in the Balkans during the 1990s.
Andy Cook and Todd McGowan are among the veterans who came to Sarajevo. They shared their emotional stories with N1 reporter.
Cook, who suffered from PTSD after he returned from the mission in Bosnia, said it was his frustration that “it felt like it was all for nothing, that we were here just to watch genocide.”
According to him, wounds from the past can heal.
VEZANE VIJESTI
Asked what did this visit mean to him, Cook said it was a part of the healing process. “Sometimes you have to face your fears,” he said, adding that he was afraid to return here but he felt it was something he had to do as a part of the healing process.
McGowan noted that the bike ride they came for was the way to say that the Canadians have not forgotten about Bosnia. “For many of us it’s a strong feeling, it is close to our hearts,” he added.
